Kid Art

Finished up Lesson 2 in my Basic Drawing Curriculum as Artist In Residence at 2 elementary schools! 15 classrooms, over 350 kids in grades 2-5. Whew!
(Above is a drawing by a kid in 4th/5th grade class)

Art by 4th grader during Lesson 3 of my Basic Drawing classes in the elementary schools.

... And an onion for class 

Photography Lesson - Angle of Light

Since it was sunny, I asked 5th and 6th graders to bring in their cameras and we studied how the angle of light source affects photos.

Though all they had at their disposal was the school grounds, they did some amazing work - and learned to look at objects in a different light (pardon the pun!).

The white kale was taken between classes at a local nursery while I talked with the Event Coordinator hoping to get a photo/field trip to the nursery later this year!!!

Enough already!

Don't get me wrong. I'm a Pacific NW gal and love the rain and clouds - the coziness, the time for creative endeavors, good books, cups of tea. However it's supposed to be May! And even I am getting a bit tired of this relentless rain - week after week.

I have been introducing photography in the 3rd/4th and 5th/6th grade classes, and because of end-of-the-year activities, I had to combine classes last week... perfect for outdoor photography on the playground.

But rain wasn't on my agenda.

Just picture 52 8-10 year olds traipsing through the school hallways cameras in hand...

Followed on their heals with 50 11-12 year olds.

They had a ball...

I am still exhausted!

p.s. I'll see if my sons will share their photos with you some time...

Easter and back to real life

A gorgeous Easter after days of wind and rain. We awoke to a faint, but beautiful sunrise over Puget Sound and the mountains, flowers dripping with rain, and my sons bursting with excitement for the annual treasure hunt (map, clues and all)... the Easter Bunny at my mother's house goes all out.

I've been away for over 2 weeks and feel buried. Being without internet and phone felt strange at first, but I have to admit, I got used to the solitude. It felt nice to sleep and wake with the sun, only answering to the basic needs of myself and my family - who joined me the 2nd week.

Now I'm struggling to get back to 'real life': reply to messages, ship out book orders, fill out paperwork for junior high, nurse a sick kid, sit on the founding board of a new Choice School (focused on math, science and technology), design art lessons for 125 kids, prep for jewelry classes and trunk show in New York, write a newsletter (sadly behind schedule), plan my Autumn Festival retreat, finalize color proofs for the next iteration of Eye For Color, write a section for a Dutch book, apply to teach at venues a year or so out... all due this month.

I feel overwhelmed and a bit resentful to give up my peace and quiet and simple life of the last 2 weeks. But at the same time I am excited about all of the items on my plate. Perhaps I just need a bit of ramp-up time. And a cup of tea.

Photography with kids

Armed with a new camera, tons of inspiration from all of the wonderful photographers in blogland and more interest than talent - I created this mosaic last spring and have been playing and learning and pushing my creative boundaries ever since.

And... I thought it would be fun for kids to learn along with me! On Friday, 5th and 6th grade students brought cameras (of all different kinds and qualities) to school and we set off into the playground searching for shape. Our 'Inspirational Artist' was the talented Kenda - we studied her 'Walk through the Churchyard' mosaic and the kids ate up her repetitive use of diamonds, and the way she cropped to create completely different pictures.

Then we headed into the computer lab to upload and manipulate photos and create mosaics - their teacher is a tech wiz!

Photography by M. Gilbert - 6th Grade

Next time we will focus on shadows and reflections...

Just For Fun!

'Hot Pear' - torn paper collage

For those of you who followed the color discussions / exercises from a few posts back (starting with Value of Texture), here is a fun project that goes just a little further! Inspired by the amazing collage work by Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson, this Still Life Collage project is one I do with 3rd through 6th graders after having them go through all of the color study work that you have done.

All of the elements we've discussed so far come into play:

• Value and Texture - to show depth and movement
• Color Transitions - to gently move the eye from one color to another
• Saturation - elements of similar saturation stand out against backgrounds of different saturation

All you need to know on how to do these has been covered in the 3 posts referenced above. But if you have questions, please let me know!

Here are a few pieces I made - each in under an hour (that's how long my classroom time is). I don't claim to be a collage artist and many of you will do oh-so-much-more with this - but boy it's a blast! And that's what it is all about, isn't it?

Here is a variation on the pear theme. This time the background is low value and more saturated. The pear is high value and low saturation.

'White Pear' - torn paper collage

This scene was inspired by a logo on the magazine I tore up to make the collage!:

'Little House in the Hills' - torn paper collage

A few years ago I planted a symphony of sunflowers in my garden - red, orange, chocolate, yellow with red centers... with the idea that I would fill my house with huge, colorful bouquets all summer and fall. Unfortunately, I'm allergic to pollen and do you know how much pollen sunflowers contain? Aaaarrgh! I can't breathe within 15 minutes of walking into a house with them. So much for that. But I still love these gorgeous flowers and enjoy them in my garden.

'Sunflower' - torn paper collage

Apples and pears are such fabulous subjects for beginning artists learning about value - I have my little students (the grade schoolers) draw them with charcoal, reverse charcoal, paint them in acrylics and even use them in collage. I really dig them!

'Red Apple' - torn paper collage

'Tulips' - torn paper collage

All of the above are pretty simple shapes, but you could go even simpler and just try a sphere! This one started out on it's side but seemed to be eerily floating in air. So I tipped it over and added a lamp post - see it doesn't have to be a gorgeous work of art! It's just for fun!

'Mardi Gras Lamp' - torn paper collage

And here is one my 11 year old son did...

'Tree on the Hill' - Morgan Gilbert

On Teaching Art to Kids... and Myself

'Still Life in Reverse Charcoal' by Morgan Gilbert (2nd Grade)

Sometimes life seems so structured. Daily routines, commitments, appointments filling up each day and week until they all blur together. A left-brain world full of order, patterns, right and wrong. Did you know that before young kids start school most are driven by their right brain – the creative, unstructured, emotional side? But by the time they leave high school only 3% are right-brain driven. We teach that of course, that there are right and wrong ways to do things, a ‘right’ way to write, to draw, to calculate, to think and that left-brain careers are more valued than right-brain ones. We pay our accountants and engineers and bankers more than artists and social workers and musicians, right?

I fell into the mold – went into engineering, got my masters, worked in aerospace. I applied myself and accomplished things but was never really happy and never really great at it. I think my right brain was yearning to exert itself. But I never really thought about art. You see, I was not an artist. I couldn’t draw. And the little girl who loved to color everything around her was squelched inside the ‘me’ who told myself I was not good at art. There were so many years that I floundered – kind-of good at a lot of things, not great at anything and I thought it was important to be great, to have a ‘responsible’ career, to make lots of money. Now I realize it is important to enjoy, to experiment, to push myself in new and different directions.

'3-D Snowman' by Morgan Gilbert (3rd Grade)

I teach basic art (drawing, painting, color theory) to 1st through 6th graders at my son’s schools, not because I have a talent for drawing, but because I don’t. I’m learning with them. My goal is to reach those kids who doubt their own talents as they compare themselves to the kid next to them. I have finally realized that we can learn anything once we gain confidence in ourselves – and what better ego-booster for the kids than in creating a piece of art that is better than the teacher’s?!

'Self Portrait' by Brandon Gilbert (1st Grade)

Most of all, I believe it is vital to develop both sides of the brain - and the really successful in any field are those that do just that. Because after all, engineers without imagination, creativity and vision are… just engineers. And artists need some sense of form, balance and proportion to convey their message.

'Hot and Cold Pumpkins' by 4th Grader

I'm learning by experimenting, by observing, by teaching, by pushing myself. And not listening so much to that voice telling me I can't.